But when you have the Coach K of trading coaches grace your firm, you ask him to share his thoughts on these vexing trading issues.

The discussion was fascinating, with pages of note-taking. Of particular note, was a question from a Junior Trader working to be more patient with his trading- more selective.

How can I be more patient as a trader?

I spoke up and shared for the Junior Trader to develop a plan to conquer this issue with work before and after markets. That the trader’s success overcoming this real-time issue would be the culmination of the excellent work before and after market hours. From my seat, traders stress way too much about real-time willpower and trade decisions and miss that all of that is just the result of the excellent work before and after markets.

I posited some specific ideas to improve patience in real-time:

Visualization

Filters alerting you to your best setups

Talk to other traders about your finest moments trading

PlayBook your best setups

Create a roadmap before the open of your best opportunities

Dr. Steenbarger brainstormed a real-time trader exercise as a solution. He challenged the traders to research their median trades per day, then divide by two, and then take no more than that number of trades each day until they become consistent. Create artificial boundaries to trade less so you trade more consistently.

Trading more patiently is not hopeless for you. It requires ideas to solve the problem and sticking to your improvement plan. It’s not your willpower in real-time holding you back. It’s the solutions waiting for you to design not yet incorporated into your trading.

Huge thank you to Dr. Steenbarger for his time, ideas and trader chat!